Oil & Fuel farm or road diesel?

[teamstew]

Here in Newburgh NY, I deliver Gas, Diesel, and heating oil for a living, for the last 29 years. When we load red-dyed ulsd, it is the on-road diesel that has the dye injected as it loads onto the delivery truck. So here it is the same exact fuel! And anyone that states all these specs, doesn't realize that every barge delivery doesn't have the same specs.

 

[rScotty]

By law, currently all off-road and on-road diesel must be Ultra Low Sulfur. Currently the law says the highway past my place has a 55 mph limit but probably half the drivers break that law. The other half are intoxicated or on drugs and don't know. So it follows that some suppliers are ignoring the law (know a way to avoid detection) and are supplying inferior fuel. It also follows that if they have inferior fuel, they stand less of a chance getting caught selling it to off-road users than selling it to on-highway users where there are checks not only whether the driver is using dyed fuel but also the fuel meets specs. Having had enormous amounts of warranty failure data to examine and reports that I could read regarding the failed pumps, I could pick out some areas of the USA that have the worst fuel in the world based on fuel pump failure analysis. I am talking about 10 times failure rate differences.

Well said. Yes, it's been an interesting discussion to follow. Several posters have reported different experiences even though they all work in the diesel fuel industry. As MHarryE points out, the truth could be that everyone is accurately reporting the facts as they know them - but that the facts themselves vary in different areas.

One thing that really surprised me is the large number of folks who believe that regulation guarantees compliance. That's nice though. It means this is largely a law-abiding nation. But at the same time it is a really big diverse country where maximizing profit has become an acceptable reason for an increasingly large range or behavior. So although the law may be the same everywhere, there's little guarantee that it will be interpreted the same or obeyed to the same extent.

And who hasn't got a bad or different load of fuel at some time? I know we sure have. All you have to do is ask around the rural parts of the country and most anyone can tell you which stations to use and which to avoid.
YMMV, rScotty

 

[tractorshopper]

So to follow up on my previous post. I checked another local station that sells off road in a pump right next to on road. The on road says Highway use Diesel - ULSD - Sulfur <15PPM. The off road pump says "diesel for offroad use only - dye added - not taxed - high sulfure content"; it does not even say what the "high" sulfur content max is. I have yet to find a local station selling offroad diesel that says ULSD or anything of the sort.

 

[Bluegill2]

So to follow up on my previous post. I checked another local station that sells off road in a pump right next to on road. The on road says Highway use Diesel - ULSD - Sulfur <15PPM. The off road pump says "diesel for offroad use only - dye added - not taxed - high sulfure content"; it does not even say what the "high" sulfur content max is. I have yet to find a local station selling offroad diesel that says ULSD or anything of the sort.

By law, off road has to be ULSD. The stickers are either old, or the off road pumps don't have stickers.

Do like I did and ask the owner of the station if the off road is ULSD...

 

[94BULLITT]

By law, off road has to be ULSD. The stickers are either old, or the off road pumps don't have stickers.

Do like I did and ask the owner of the station if the off road is ULSD...

I asked the person working at the place where I get mine and they did not know. I think the best thing to do is email the oil company.

 

[Bluegill2]

I asked the person working at the place where I get mine and they did not know. I think the best thing to do is email the oil company.

I had to ask the owner, where I get mine. Hired help will not likely know...

Same with the place I get non-ethanol gas, no sign, no sticker, clerk didn't know. But a chat with the owner found the 93 octane to be non-eth.

 

[tractorshopper]

I had already asked the owner of the local feed and seed (closer to me than the place I mentioned above) and their's also reference high sulfur and the owner did not know. I won't take my chances.